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Foldable smartphones have been making big waves in the last couple of years, with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3 last year being one of our firm favourites.
The Korean giant is already hard at work on the next model, which is almost certain to arrive next month at an Unpacked event that’s already been confirmed by Samsung.
Here’s all we know so far about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.
When will the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 be released?
Samsung has confirmed that it’s launching new products on 10 August, and this is almost certainly when we’ll finally meet the Z Flip 4 officially. The company has even almost admitted as much in a statement from president Dr. TM Roh declaring that “The mainstream moment for foldables is here.”
There’s also the fact that the trailer for the event pretty clearly shows the side of a Z Flip model, forming a ‘greater than’ symbol to highlight that the new phones will be ‘greater than’ the ones out now. Geddit?
Last year the Galaxy Z Flip 3 launched alongside the Z Fold 3 in August, so it’s almost certain that Samsung will take a similar approach this year, revealing the Flip 4 along with the Z Fold 4 and likely the Galaxy Watch 5 too.
Well-known leaker Jon Prosser had already predicted the 10 August date, claiming that pre-orders will also start that day and that both phones will go on sale from 26 August. Korean leaker Garyeon Han basically agrees, though suggests that the pre-orders won’t actually start until a few days after the launch, on 16 August.
Interestingly, Samsung has apparently ordered 8.7 million panels – up from 5.1 million last year – which means it’s expecting to sell even more Flips this time around. We’ve heard similar reports from The Elec, which in May reported that Samsung has begun mass production of components with an aim to produce over 10 million foldables in total, with 70% of those being Z Flip 4 models.
How much will the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 cost?
Again, we don’t have any confirmed details about the new Flip, so we’ll have to look back at the previous pricing for guidance. Here’s how much they cost at launch:
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip – $1,380/£1,300/€1,349Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 – $999/£949/€1,049
This price drop between the first and second generations was most likely due to production costs coming down. As with any first-generation product, you usually end up paying a premium to own the newest technology.
It feels unlikely that Samsung will cut the price much more, especially in the context of current inflation.
In fact, Pricebaba reports that we could instead see prices going back up. The site claims to have sourced European pricing, which will see the phone start from €1,080 for 128GB storage, rising to €1,160 for the 256GB model and €1,280 for a brand-new 512GB option. Any price hike in Europe is likely to be replicated in the US and UK.
That said, industry expert Ross Young thinks we “might see a price cut,” pointing as evidence to the fact that Samsung’s July production order for the Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 is “more than double” the equivalent production last year. That’s taking both foldables together of course, so it could be that the Fold is brought down in price while the Flip stays the same – or Samsung may decide not to reduce the price of either.
One perk is that US customers can save a little by reserving the phone now. Technically you’re only reserving a pre-order slot, so you don’t need to put any money down yet – just your contact details. Reserving a phone (either the Flip or Fold) gets you $100 Samsung store credit, and you can get up to $200 credit if you also want to reserve a smartwatch (likely the Galaxy Watch 5) and earbuds (probably the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro).
There’s no commitment though, so there’s really no reason not to sign up if you’re in the US and considering the new phone.
Will it be the Z Flip 4 or the Flip 4?
One interesting wrinkle this year is that Samsung may be changing its naming convention. The company has taken the ‘Z’ out of the names of its foldables in select markets without any explanation – though some speculate that it may have been in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the ‘Z’ symbol sometimes used by Russia’s armed forces.
In any case, it’s opened speculation that the company may drop the ‘Z’ entirely, leaving its next-gen foldable simple called the Galaxy Flip 4. That would be cleaner and simpler, and in our eyes certainly a welcome change, but for now there’s little concrete evidence that any branding change is on the way worldwide.
What new specs will we see in the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4?
Obviously, we remain in the area of speculation and rumour at the moment, which will hopefully be dispelled before too long with news from Samsung.
Design and build
So far, no-one is expected the Z Flip 4 to be a radical design departure from the Flip 3.
That’s reflected in the glimpses of the phone in Samsung’s event trailer above, and in the first renders we’ve seen of the phone, which come from OnLeaks in partnership with 91mobiles.
These show only a few changes. OnLeaks says the design will be essentially identical to the previous phone, except with slight tweaks to the dimensions: now very slightly smaller but thicker at 165.1 x 71.9 x 7.2mm.
OnLeaks himself has followed these renders with an even better look at the phone, in partnership with GizNext, in what he claims are actual Samsung marketing materials:
OnLeaks x GizNext
Alongside the renders we’ve also seen photos of an alleged prototype version of the phone, first shared by TechTalkTV (though since removed).
The renders and photos all seem to show a slightly tweaked hinge design, most obviously resulting in a less visible screen crease. This matches an early rumour from a Korean leaker picked up by Slash Gear, which outlines plans for a lighter chassis and improved hinge, which is good news as this remains one of the potential weak points of any flip design – and this is one of the few areas where the Z Flip 3 is clearly behind the recent Huawei P50 Pocket.
We see some evidence of a hinge tweak in the first leaked images of cases for the phone too. Shared by leaker Ice Universe, these photos reveal what certainly looks like a slimmer hinge.
You can see more leaked case designs from UK accessory store Mobile Fun – which actually has cases available to pre-order already – though these don’t reveal any striking new details.
Otherwise, as reported elsewhere, the cut-out for the outer display looks slightly larger than before – though otherwise things don’t look too different.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 saw the introduction of IPX8 water-resistance, but the same leaker mentions improvements to this. We can only assume it refers to the dustproofing that was missing from the Flip 3.
One other substantial change is to the phone’s colours. OnLeaks’ renders reveal the initial colour range, reportedly named Bora Purple, Blue, Pink Gold, and Graphite.
OnLeaks x GizNext
Display industry expert Ross Young has ‘s since added to that list though, with a range of new combination colours:
These wider colour combos likely tie into reports from SamMobile that we’ll see a lot more colour options this year through the return of the ‘Bespoke Edition’. Introduced for the Z Flip 3, this custom tool on the Samsung website allows buyers to customise the colour of the front, back, and frame of the phone. It’s currently only available in a few markets though: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Korea, the UK, and the US.
According to SamMobile, the service will expand not only to introduce new colours (though likely in the same front, back, and frame options) but also to reach new markets, especially in Europe and Asia. At present there are five colour options for the front and back, and two frame options, for 49 total combinations. The site says there will be “a lot more” this time around.
Displays
Korean site The Elec reports that Samsung won’t change the screens too much either – or at least not in size. The site says the internal folding screen will once again be 6.7in (and OnLeaks agrees), while the outer screen will grow very slightly from 1.83in up to 1.9in.
Leaker Chun predicts the same on the outer display, though says it may even become larger than 2in, which has since been echoed by Ross Young and Yogesh Brar – he specifically predicts a 2.1in outer panel. This sounds about right, based on the photos above.
As already mentioned, the redesigned hinge seems to have also made the screen crease less noticeable. Leaker Ice Universe has said the new crease is “much shallower,” which will hopefully mean it’s both less visible and harder to feel while swiping.
Chipset, RAM, and storage
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor in the Z Flip 3 could get an upgrade to the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, but it actually looks more likely that the Flip 4 will use the upcoming 8 Gen 1+, as has been predicted by multiple leakers including The Galox and Ice Universe.
More tellingly, we’ve seen that chip appear in a Geekbench listing for the Flip 4, revealed by its ‘taro’ motherboard codename.
The 8GB of memory and 128/256GB storage options will probably remain as they are, though SamMobile predicts the addition of a new 512GB storage option – a welcome addition since, like the Z Flip 3, there’s unlikely to be a MicroSD card slot.
Cameras
GSMArena has reported that Samsung will include an under-display selfie camera, although multiple prototypes are in active development, some of which still feature a punch-hole camera opening. This suggests Samsung is still testing the capabilities of the former approach to see if it’s ready for prime-time.
Leaker Chun believes the company has decided against an under-display camera, but adds that Samsung is considering a jump to a triple rear camera this time. Despite that, he warns that “the quality won’t be improve [sic] dramatically.”
Renders so far only show a dual rear camera however, and that’s what Yogesh Brar also predicts. He expects a 10Mp selfie camera and a pair of 12Mp rear cameras (main and ultrawide). These are the same specs as the Z Flip3, though it’s possible there will be subtler tweaks to the camera hardware even at the same megapixel count.
Battery and charging
Chun was the first leaker to predict an increase in battery size – by 10-20% – with other tipsters claiming that the battery will remain the same size as that of the Flip 3.
His prediction seems to have been borne out though, with GalaxyClub now reporting an overall battery capacity of 3400mAh for the Flip 4 – a modest 100mAh increase from the 3300mAh Flip 3. This info came from discovering two batteries with model codes EB-BF721ABY and EB-BF722ABY, which will reportedly be used in the new phone.
Regular leaker Ice Universe is even more optimistic about the battery, predicting a more substantial jump to a total capacity of 3700mAh, since repeated by Brar.
That lines up with the phone’s 3C battery certification, which reveals a rated capacity of 3595mAh – likely to mean a typical capacity of 3700mAh, the figure Samsung would advertise. That same 3595mAh capacity has been seen on photos of two batteries believed to be intended for the phone – one with a rated capacity of 2555mAh, and the other at 1040mAh (remember that the Flip phones used one battery in each half of the body).
Meanwhile, a separate charger certification with 3C reveals max 25W wired charging – still relatively slow, but a definite upgrade on the 15W speed of the Z Flip 3.
Wireless charging is also likely to return, but probably at the same sluggish 10W speed as before.
It’s still early days, so many of these rumoured features might change over the development of the device. We’ll be updating this article as more information becomes available, so be sure to keep checking back to see what wonders Samsung has in store.
Until then, take a look at our guide to the best phones coming in 2022.
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